Tool is making headway with new music, and the prog-metal band has set a goal to release it sometime next year.
That’s the word from drummer Danny Carey, who sat for a free-wheeling chat with Spiral Out Network, covering AI music, his love of the Blade Runner soundtrack, musical influences (the Police’s Stewart Copeland is one), and things to come.
“Keeping busy, you know man. Working on a lot of new Tool songs right now,” Carey tells the host. “Hopefully, 2027, you know, that’s the goal.”
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Earlier in the chat, Carey discussed his love of cinema, a medium that’s reflected by Tool’s full-throttle live performance. He went on to confirm conversations had begun on a possible residency at the Las Vegas Sphere, a move that would take Tool’s live show to another level.
“We’re hoping when we release a new record,” he remarked, “maybe do a stand at the Sphere ’cause I think we’re perfect for that. We’ve been talking to those guys.”
He’s experienced the venue, and he knows what it would take to pull it off. “The preparation is pretty intense to get everything up,” he continued. “It’s a very expensive endeavor, and it takes a while to get into the black. I think it’s quite a few shows before you make any money.”
Carey’s update on Tool’s progress in the studio checks out. A followup to 2019’s Fear Inoculum is coming along, bass player Justin Chancellor told this reporter last year, ahead of Tool’s headline spot at the three-city Good Things festival run. “We’re working on it,” Chancellor assured.
Whether the band will release a full collection, or drip-fed songs, it’s too early to say. “We’ve got ideas of maybe releasing a song on its own. I’m not sure. We’ve got a lot of irons in the fire, a lot of great tracks that aren’t finished in any way. But it’s really down to deciding the way we want to do it,” Chancellor admitted. “The whole climate’s changed a bit. We could release one track at a time if we wanted to.”
The rockers performed the Black Sabbath song “Hand of Doom” at the “Back to the Beginning” concert last July, a farewell to Ozzy Osbourne. “We were like, ‘that’s pretty cool,’” Chancellor continued. “Maybe we should release another one of our new songs with it, like an old-fashioned 7” single with a B-side.”
Tool are four-time Grammy Award winners, and boast five studio albums, the last three (Fear Inoculum, 2006’s 10,000 Days and 2001’s Lateralus) all going to No. 1 on the Billboard 200.
